Arm in Arm, Sharing Our Light

Over three years ago I completed my first stint on jury duty.  I served again about a year ago.  Both times were timely reminders about how we react unknowingly out of our wounds.  From defendant to attorneys to judges to plaintiffs to victims to jurors — each of us carries wounds that are deep and often untended and unknown.  Today I am sitting with the individual and collective wounds that create a polarized and violent world.

From out of those individual wounds trickle the hurt we share unintentionally.  We are unaware of the wounds our words and action inflict on family, friends, and strangers.  We do not realize how this hurt joins forces with the hurt instilled by others.  The trickles combine to become a flood that rushes out into the world impacting others. 

What might begin with the seed of an untended thought surprisingly, to us, blossoms into violent discourse.  We are unaware of how our wounds salted with anger and fears fertilize the seeds of hurt and harm.  We do not understand and, perhaps, are unwilling to own, what we unintentionally grow in the ground of our being.  

During Compassion Conversations©, I have had individuals ask me how we resolve the big issues like the violence perpetrated at Pulse in Orlando, Florida.  Unfortunately, I have no quick fix, easy answer.  I believe that the solution begins in the heart of each of us.  It is our mission to make every thought, every word, and every action articulate the message of

compassion.  And, when we share this message we fertilize the world with compassion.   We grow compassion in ways that leave little room for hurt to flourish.

But, how do we get to a place of compassionate presence?  By being aware of what powers our thoughts, words, and actions, we prevent an outburst of hurt.  When we act in ways that intentionally breathe compassion into the ember of our divine spark, its light is reflected in our wounds.  Aware, we open our self to healing.  We act in ways that heal our self and others. 

Thomas Merton reminds us that everyone carries a flickering light of the sacred within.  He says, “If we could see the pure diamond light within us, we would see the billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of the sun that would make the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely…” Merton knows of no identifiable way to get there — “I have no program for seeing.  It is only given.  But, the gateway of heaven is everywhere.”

In my presentations focusing on compassion, I encourage participants to discover their lived experience.  What is your lived experience?  How can you join your point of light with the points of light of others?  Within this connection, we shine our collective brilliance upon the gateway of heaven.  Arm in arm, as we walk through, we share our peace, our compassion, our message with the world.  No program, just living with compassion one moment at a time.

Arm In Arm, Sharing Our Collective Brilliance, Vanessa

Vanessa is an Intuitive, Community Builder, and Compassionista, and Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action